Cast Up
by FoxJL
Summary: Since he could remember, he counted. Counting the days until he saw her again didn't seem like a foreign concept, though getting back to her was only half the battle. The other half is holding himself together while trying to make her remember who she truly is. [CaptainSwan with Charming family later on. Slowburn multichap.] [Canon through 311.]
1. Prologue

_I pray that you'll find peace of mind_

_I'll find you another time_

_I'll love you another time_

He counted.

Since he could remember, since he first discovered that true pain was a mixture of loss and helplessness, he counted.

When he lost Liam, he counted his men. He counted the volume of books in the shelf that Liam had left behind, and read each one with a weight pushing down on his chest that he tried to lighten with rum (a beverage of which he consumed while counting the number of glasses it took to feel numb) and with faceless, heartless tavern women.

He counted the women. He lost count after he became numb to that, too.

The counting kept him sane. It kept him tethered to some semblance of reality, all the while drinking and fucking to forget said reality.

It was a paradox if ever there were such a thing.

Eventually, he lost count of most other things, too. And so, with the loss of his logical, near obsessive habit, he lost reality.

That was, until Milah.

She made him feel again. Exactly what that feeling was, he could never place. Most of the time it was heat, heat fused with a passion of which he had never experienced before. Sometimes it was genuine, unabashed love, her eyes searing through him with such adoration that he had trouble focusing. Other times, it was annoyance. Annoyance at the fact that no matter his feelings for her, and her moments of true care and devotion, she would stare longingly into the sea, and he would know her real passion.

Adventure.

She was always wild, untamed in such a pure way, that when each night they would hold each other and discuss Baelfire, he would crumble at the hopelessness in her voice when she would put their journey to retrieve the boy off for another day.

_"We will go back for him. Just not tonight. Give me one more night, Killian."_

And because he was constantly weak in the knees with how much he adored this woman, he would agree. But they never went back.

She made him feel. She made a heart, long ago lost on the concept of love, beat again.

And so, he loved her. He stopped counting this time, not because he lost reality, but because he had a new anchor for it. He let himself go, he let himself feel, he let himself get dragged back into the clutches of happiness, and he enjoyed his life. He finally came to terms with Liam's death, and he grieved. Healthily and cleansingly, he grieved. He was free.

Almost immediately after this revelation, after this life changing jump into peace, he began to count again.

Because he lost her, too.

That thing, that coward, that heartless, pointless, wretched demon ripped her from him, and he was helpless to stop it.

So he counted.

He counted the days spent on that godforsaken island, grovelling to Pan to allow free roam, grovelling to the same boy who had a hand in his brother's death.

He even spent an entire year counting the leaves on a tree, once.

Neverland was an odd place.

He counted the amount of times his crew would ask the question, _"How much longer will we be here, Captain?"_

That question was asked a lot.

He counted the amount of times he created visions in his mind of the Crocodile's death. That was a lot, too.

Finally, after counting the number of mermaids that had tried to kill them on their final voyage away from Neverland, he was emerging from a portal, and was looking at the place he thought he would finally get his revenge. The Enchanted Forest hadn't changed drastically, and he began gathering information as to where, and how, he could find this dagger that the Crocodile would soon see as his undoing.

As usual, the counting kept him grounded. Focused on the mission, intent on his revenge, he counted.

Until once again, he lost reality, and simply became a wreck. A whirlwind of suffering, he killed people. He again, drank and fucked his way around the Enchanted Forest, stopping at each port with an intention of inflicting as much pain as possible onto the men, and gaining as much pleasure as possible from the women. Then he would sail away, blood on his hands, and repeat the process in the next town.

He didn't count the women or the drinks this time. He didn't even count his kills.

The next time he counted, was when he counted the number of one-armed pulls it took to climb a beanstalk.

He had climbed before, sure, but this beanstalk was different.

He had a reason to claw back some sanity, if only to get a decent conversation from the blonde at his side.

Getting honest conversation from this woman was like trying to get blood from a rock. Nigh on impossible, and it made him want to hit the blonde over the head with said rock.

Then again, he did always love a challenge.

She intrigued him, in a way that no woman had. Even Milah was someone he could predict, know her next move and react ahead of time accordingly. This Swan girl, with flames in her eyes and a frown on her lips, was a completely different story.

And god did he want to read it.

His original plan with the Swan girl was to open her up, let her spill her secrets, and sate himself with her past. He counted her words, and then estimated the amount of seconds before he took what he needed from her and left. After all, once his challenge in the woman was met, he no longer needed her. His revenge was just around the corner. One last hurdle to jump.

_"Maybe I was, once."_

Without noticing, at this moment in time, the moment she surprised him yet again, his intention at the top of the beanstalk changed. 'An open book' is the way he described her, and yet it was infuriating the way he could both read her perfectly and get it completely wrong all at the same time.

It was downright contradicting, and she was winning the fight for information with her intuitive guess of the reason for his revenge. Her revelation that she had lied on the beanstalk, and in fact had once felt something in what he assumed was her iron covered heart, made him realise his thirst for knowledge of her might not simply be to take the upper hand. Maybe he simply wanted to know. It was a shock to his system, but he ignored the jolt he felt and went with it, for now. A distraction is exactly what he needed. He would no longer run at the first opportunity, he would stay with her, and they would travel to the other realm together. Then, and only then, would he be on his way.

He still wasn't sure exactly why he had this change of heart.

Maybe it was because she reminded him of himself.

Lost, guarded and self-preserving.

He had discovered a kindred spirit in this woman, apparently.

Maybe once his hook had impaled the Crocodile, he would be able to convince her to drink with him.

She seemed like she was the type to hold her liquor.

_"I can't take the chance that I'm wrong about you."_

_"Dried up, dead, useless. Much like you."_

_"I had no idea you had such a soft side,"_

_"Hello beautiful,"_

_"Why should we trust you?"_

_"We understand each other."_

_"I offer my ship, my services to help follow them."_

_"Maybe I would."_

_"I'm not in the mood..."_

_"Thank you."_

And then he's kissing her, and suddenly he's not counting the seconds it takes for her to pull away, he's not counting he amount of breathless moments before she's walking from him. He's reveling in it, and he's discovering that maybe that black hole that has the names of his two loves written inside of it can be occupied once more by a new love, someone who challenged him more than he ever knew possible, someone who never faked her distaste for his choices, who laid him out and gave him reason to try for less villainous motives.

Someone who without asking, had made him push revenge to the back of his mind. To allow that thing onto his ship, to risk his life in the name of the woman who had dragged him, kicking and screaming back from the brink of madness.

The woman who without him realising, had suddenly become his world.

A woman who had proved that black voice in his head wrong.

_You'll never love again. You'll never be loved again. You'll have nothing._

Suddenly he stops counting. Because he has something better.

Hope.

Then, in what seems like the blink of an eye, his hope disappears.

There's a cloud coming, green smoke that is pulling at everything he had forged in the last year, pulling at his new found vigor and drowning it in the promise of loss.

_"There's not a day will go by I won't think of you."_

_"Good."_

As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. Sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment. And then the moment was gone.

He counts the steps she takes to the yellow vessel.

Then, she's gone.

_I pray that you'll find peace of mind_

He's standing in a forest, watching the faces around him feign happiness to be back.

All attempting to be strong for each other. All failing miserably.

She's gone, and he's in limbo.

So he counts.

_I'll find you another time_

He will find her. He refuses to lose another love, not when this time, he can do something about it. He will find her, and whether it gives him his happy ending or not, at least he knows he tried.

_I'll love you another time_

And so, neither happy nor lost, neither caught in disaster nor content, he counts.

_1 day._

* * *

_'A moment settled...' quote by John Steinbeck._

_Lyrics by Ellie Goulding._

_Hello you lovely lovely wonderful people._

_I'm new to the CS/OUAT fanfic, but I've been writing fanfic since 2006, so I've had a fair bit of experience writing, up till now in other fandoms. This will be a long, multichap fic, spanning the ridiculous 3 month break we're forced to deal with. (shakes fist at Adam and Eddie)_

_This chapter is just a prologue, and next chapter I will begin to write about the year gap._

_I want to let you all know that I am always always open to your thoughts on my work. If you like what you read, please let me know so I know to carry on the way I am. If you dislike a path my story is taking, if you dislike the way I write certain characters, even if you just dislike a certain sentence, please let me know (in a civilised manner please, we're not hate mail barbarians here,) I always try to mould my stories to the best they can be, and so even though I know where my story is going, I will listen to your opinions._

_My name is Fox, and on ficwad I was nicknamed the queen of cliffhangers. Sorry about that._

_I love you all lots. blows kisses_


	2. Chapter One

_Prologue up for a few hours and already a load of favourites and follows? You lot are wonderful. I was going to post this tomorrow, but seeing as I feel warm and fuzzy, here's the first real chapter of this story. Review? It makes my heart tingly. Now, who's ready for a little Charming/Hook bromance moment?_

* * *

_26 days._

Almost a month, and no progress.

The twenty-fifth day was the first day that anyone from Storybrooke life had shown any interest in seeing him. He guessed that they were simply adjusting to life here, mourning the loss of the saviour and trying to move on.

He resented them for it. His addictive personality would never let him move on. Not from her.

He sat on his ship, a ship which he had stumbled upon while drinking himself into a stupor almost a week ago. How she got to this land, he doesn't think he'll ever know, but he doesn't question it.

He's almost positive it would make his head hurt if he thought about it for too long.

The Jolly was docked in a port town fairly close to the crumbling castle of the Charmings. If he had taken a moment to think, he would've noticed that it was the exact distance from their castle as it had been in distance to their apartment in Storybrooke.

He looks over at the turrets that poke over the trees in the distance, and wonders what they're doing right now. As much as he pretends to be indifferent to their situation, his heart hurts when he thinks of them. Like it or not, they had an effect on his mind, primarily due to their connection to her, but partly because they were nothing like the royalty he had grown accustomed to.

They were fierce in everything. In their loyalty, in their emotions and in their love for each other and for their people.

Fierce in their love for their daughter.

More than once, he had contemplated walking towards the castle, offering a hand in the reconstruction of their kingdom, placing his rare loyalty into the hands of the reinstated King and Queen.

He always pussied out before he got there.

He couldn't bear being around them. Not when Snow gave her that chin and her stubborn and mischievous streak. Not when Charming's sense of wit and powerful aura was identical to hers.

Unfortunately for him, for the past month, the royals had mourned the loss of their only child, before deciding to do something about it. That decision had come on the twenty-fifth day, and now, on the twenty-sixth, Charming was strutting onto his ship as if he owned the place, rolling his eyes at the pale pirate, who looked as if he would like nothing more than to projectile vomit his pounding hangover all over the King's shiny new shoes.

"Hook,"

The pirate raised his arm in salute, before groaning and leaning back to glare at David.

"Most royals would know that it's customary to ask for the Captain's permission before stepping aboard his vessel, Dave," He smirked slightly and pulled out his flask. "Hair of the dog?" He offered it to David, who shook his head and folded his arms.

"Drowning your sorrows for almost a month straight, Hook? I thought better of you." Hook laughed bitterly.

"No you didn't. I may have saved your life once, but you never saw me as more than a pirate, Your Highness," he hissed the title, and David sighed before sitting himself next to Hook.

"Don't be so dramatic. I didn't come here to berate you. In fact, if it weren't for the fact I have to keep a brave face for Snow's sake, I would most certainly be drunk every second that my daughter is still gone." Hook cringed at the mention of her, and David noticed. "You care about her. You care that she's gone. So why are you here? Why not come to see us, to scream and shout about how we need to do something to get her back?"

"I'm sure you're doing everything you can. My presence will surely simply be a hindrance," David rolled his eyes again, and Hook internally screamed at just how _her_ it was.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. I hate myself for how little we're actually doing. Snow and I want her back more than anything else in the world. More than we want another child, more than we want to restore the kingdom, more than keeping everyone else strong. We need her more than any of that, and that's the problem." Hook frowned, not understanding what Charming was getting at. David sighed. "We can't do it. She's living the life she always dreamed for. A life with Henry, happy, content, no magic, no danger, just a life with her son. A son she never gave up, a son that she loved with all her heart every second since he was born. She has her happy ending. Making her remember, bringing her back here, it's selfish. She'll remember that she gave Henry up, and she'll hate herself. She'll lose any happiness she finds in that life. She'll be back here, fighting ogres and being the saviour to a kingdom, all the while losing whatever freedom she found." Hook gulped slightly as he realised the predicament they were in.

Give her a fake happy ending, one she has earned a hundred times over, or give her real life.

"You saw her face when she was told she had to leave, Dave. She was breaking all over again. Losing family and friends she had waited for her entire life. You're her father. She clung to you and Snow like she couldn't breathe. Do you really think she would want this fake life more than her real love for the two of you?" He bit his tongue on the words he was itching to say, looking over at Charming who had seemed to sober since the last time he saw him. Aged infinitely over the loss of his daughter.

"She doesn't remember us, Hook. It doesn't make a difference how she felt before now," He was gripping the hilt of his sword, white knuckles making it obvious to Hook just how close David was to breaking down, falling into a pit of self-loathing over the absence of her.

"Mate," He put his hand onto David's shoulder, making the King look up through flooded eyes. "Be honest. If it was you, knowing you were going to forget everyone except Snow, living a sheltered and wonderful life with her, would you prefer to stay there, and forget everyone, including your daughter, your people, your friends, or would you want someone to remind you that you have extra happiness in your life. Not just the happiness your wife gives you?" David frowned.

"I never thought of it that way. I thought I would just be being selfish if I planned for her return," Hook shook his head.

"Don't worry, I've been feeling the same way. Now, enough of this disgusting male bonding we seem to be venturing into, and drink indifferently with me. I refuse to become friends with a Prince. Apologies, _King_. Bloody annoying, you royal folk," He tipped his flask at David who smirked.

"You think so highly of yourself Captain. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is get to a point where I can tolerate you," Hook felt himself smile slightly for the first time since losing her. He looked at David.

"You need to get her back. We need to get her back. We will, and she will be heartbroken, but she'll be thankful. To know she found her way to reality. What will happen past that, I don't know. You speak of giving her her best chance. Perhaps now it's time to give her her _real_ chance." David sighed heavily.

"You know, for a pirate, you're an incredibly smart man."

"I might be interested in your daughter mate, but that doesn't mean I'll settle for her father while she's not here. Stop flirting with me and go back to your palace."

"You're insufferable."

"Always. Let me know if you find anything. Any way I can help in the endeavour to bring her back, I'll be there at a moment's notice. Just don't call on me for castle cleaning duties." David rolled his eyes once more and headed for the plank to disembark the ship.

"I will. Thank you, Hook."

"Go away Charming." Chuckling, David walked away, leaving Hook to sigh and contemplate their situation.

Twenty-six days, and he felt the smallest spark inside of him, the tiniest flame, flickering at the hope of a resolution to his misery.

_You don't remember me, but I remember you_

_I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you_

* * *

_92 days._

The tavern was unusually busy that night. Apparently the news of Regina's coronation into Matriarch of the kingdom had spread, and people were gathering to gossip about the former Evil Queen's role in their lives.

In past weeks, Snow and Charming had come to the conclusion that even though the kingdom was theirs, Regina had become a fairer, and some may even say just, member of their council. (Hook was almost certain that this was only due to her recent love affair with Robin Hood, but even the pirate was impressed with the kindness that Regina had shown the kingdom in these past few months.)

The title of Matriarch was bestowed upon her, and she was now seen as almost a second Queen in the land. Living in her old palace, she mourned the loss of her son by throwing herself into a relationship with the leader of the Merry Men, who had already fallen head over heels for Regina, and their plan was to get married as soon as her coronation was over. She also took Roland under her wing, giving her motherly instincts a place to reside. She would tell Roland stories of his brave older step-brother, who was living in a far off land with his other mother. Roland would ask if he would meet this new hero of his one day, and Regina would smile sadly.

_"I hope so."_

Hook watched as some people in the tavern talked about how the Regina deserved the title after her redemption, and others would say that the King and Queen were foolish for giving her another chance.

Hook sat on the fence on the matter.

He pushed his way into the tavern, the feat being easier as his presence still had the ability to cut through crowds of people like a knife, perhaps even easier than it did before. The combination of his reputation from before meeting the Charmings, coupled with his new loyalty for their family, made it easy for him to clear a path through a room with a simple sneer at the right people.

He sat at a table in the corner, a table he had deemed his own since his last time in this particular inn. He had been travelling for almost two months now, in and out of kingdoms, visiting various towns and taking his ship through so many new ports that at times he even thought he might be able to enjoy himself. It reminded him of simpler days, before the Saviour, before the Crocodile, before even meeting Milah for the first time. Days that were spent without any moral compass or destination, drowning the loss of Liam with rum.

Now though, his purpose was more complicated than that.

After his enlightening conversation with the King, he kept an ear out for any mention of a plan to return the Lost Princess and her son to their land. Sometimes the dwarves would visit to keep him up to date. A few times he was graced with the presence of the King himself, who came to his ship to be in a place where he didn't have to pretend to be the all encompassing ruler of the land, strong partner to Queen Snow, leader of the Enchanted Forest. He could just be David, man who wished for his daughter, wished for his wife's happiness. The two would drink, hurl insults at each other, and complain about the fact that portals should be easier to find. Then he would leave, and Hook would go back to counting the stars.

One day, Snow visited.

"Captain," she nodded to him as she stepped onto the plank linking ship to shore, and he nodded in return, waving a hand to allow her on board. She stepped onto deck in what could only be described as a fairytale outfit. Hook thought she looked every bit the Queen she truly was. Only someone who had seen her in, for lack of a better term, _normal _circumstances, would see the despair in her eyes.

Keeping up appearances indeed.

He looked over to the guards who were stationed on the dock, taking care of Snow's horse, and looking upon Hook like one would look upon a mosquito buzzing around their heads.

"Not bringing your protection on board, milady?" He smirked, and Snow slapped his arm.

"Don't be so sarcastic, Hook. We both know I'm perfectly safe around you, no matter what remarks you make." Hook raised an eyebrow.

"You sound so sure, Your Highness. What have I done to gain such trust from you?" He smirked again to sound insincere about his question, but both parties knew he was asking genuinely.

"You fell in love with my daughter. That's what you did." Hook groaned at the mention of her and Snow smiled sadly.

"I feel the same way when she's mentioned. I feel empty most of the time." She looked longingly up at the sails of the Roger. "Who knew I would pine for the days when we were on this ship, in danger. At least we had her," She sighed. "David and I had an idea." Hook snapped his head up to meet Snow's eyes.

"And what idea would that be?" He felt his heart lurch at the glint in her eyes, knowing that such a spark could only come from hope, and the only hope Snow felt these days was when a idea presented itself about returning her daughter.

"I have a bag of gold with me. A lot of it. You need to use it, to make trades. Trade for anything, we don't care. It's about the people, not the items. Find someone who can point us in the direction of a portal jumper. I don't care what you have to do. If you need more gold, or need anything else, don't hesitate to ask." Hook scoffed slightly, pulling out his flask.

"How do you expect me to find such a person? Even if I can, what makes you think they'll even have the means to do so? The lands are different now, you know that, Snow. It's a long shot and you know it." Snow glared slightly before snatching the flask from his fingers, uncorking it and taking a swig. She looked so much like her daughter in that moment that Hook had trouble breathing.

"Have faith. Enough negativity. From you-" she lowered her eyes. "-and from me. It's time we stop cowering like children. I want my daughter back. I need my daughter back. You need her back too, so we'll do this, and you'll succeed. Because if there's one thing you're good at, Hook," she handed him his flask. "It's determination." She smiled slightly and moved towards the plank to leave the ship.

"And Hook?" Hook looked back up at her. "Thank you. For taking care of my husband. He tries not to show it, but he's just as broken as I am. Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough at the moment to comfort him the way he's been comforting me. I feel terrible for that, so knowing he can come here and let himself be weak, even for a moment... it helps with the sleeplessness. Thank you." Snow turned, and walked from the ship.

Hook looked down at the bag of coins she had left with him, and took a deep breath.

Now, sat in the tavern, he can't help but feel that David and Snow's exuberance in this plan may simply lead to disappointment.

The gold is traded for jewels, and the jewels are traded back for gold. The gold turns into weapons and the weapons then become gold again. The trading, as Snow foretold, was more about the people met along the way. Finding suppliers for various needs, creating contacts in kingdoms all over the world.

Eventually, (and when somehow the gold has been traded so much that his most recent trade saw him acquiring an obscene amount of apples - the irony isn't lost on him) he meets a man who deals in portal jumping.

"Impossible," is the first word from the man's mouth.

Hook snarls.

"I don't have time for technicalities. Tell me what needs to be done. Nothing is impossible here, just intensely difficult," Hook plasters a threatening smile on his face. "Believe me, I can deal with difficult." The man sighs.

"I mean it, Captain. Portals are extinct. No beans, the Mad Hatter is out of business, and no-one in this land is powerful enough to create anything else."

"What about other forms? Ruby slippers, magic mirrors and the like,"

"All sealed off when we were brought back. That land isn't accessible anymore." Hook punched his hand into the table.

"Something. Give me something to work with here, you maggot," The man pushed his back against the backrest of the chair, attempting to move away from the slowly maddening Captain.

"I'm sorry. Unless you know of a giant who can perform enough magic to restore a destroyed bean, or of someone who can convince the Hatter to leave his daughter to fetch another hat from Wonderland, or of a-" Hook grabbed the man by the shirt.

"What did you just say?" He growled, and the man shivered.

"The Hatter - he won't do it, he won't leave-" Hook slammed the man against the backrest of the seat.

"Not that you fool, the first thing. The bean," the man shook his head.

"I have a bean, it's destroyed, I gave it to my son as a keepsak-" the man flinched heavily as a hook came crashing into the wood beside his head.

"You have a bean and you're just mentioning this _now?_" Hook hissed, and the man shrugged.

"It's useless-" Hook smiled, the first warm smile he had had on his face in a long time.

"_Dried up, dead, useless._" He let go of the man, grabbed his tankard, finished his beer and smiled once more at the man.

"Not for much longer, it's not."


	3. Chapter Two

_What can I say? I'm a sucker for posting as soon as a chapter is done and edited. I hate having a chapter done and not posting it. I have no self control. So here, have the third one, mere hours after the prologue. It's a little comic relief, or at least, my kind of comic relief. I'm not good at comedy. I'm good at making people cry. Just a warning for future postings._

_Love you!_

* * *

_112 days._

Hook almost felt like giving himself a slap in the face.

He was acting like a lovesick puppy with the way his walk had regained a slight arrogant strut, and the fact his eyes held this giddy sparkle in them.

Hence the word _almost_.

He might currently be destroying his own image of fearsome pirate Captain, with the ridiculous grin on his face, but he simply decided not to care.

The bean - the aforementioned destroyed one - had been gripped in his hand, almost cutting off the circulation in his fingers. He had trekked to Lake Nostos, and repeated a deed which he had practiced, last time for revenge, this time for _her._

He now held in his hand a sparkling, new, plump little magic bean, one which burned in his hand with the promise of hope.

Which is why he was currently scaring people in town due to his quirky good mood. He may as well have been skipping down the dirt road to the Charming's humble abode, which was now almost fully repaired.

The gates of the castle loomed in front of him, and with the mood he was in, he didn't even grin maniacally at the guards when they eyed him suspiciously from their posts, as he usually did when visiting.

"Good news?" David trotted up next to Hook on his mare, hopping down in front of the pirate who let out an oddly unnerving chuckle.

"Dave! Look here," he dropped the bean into the King's hand, which trembled slightly when he saw what the Captain had handed to him.

"Is this what I think it is, Hook?" David kept his expression neutral, decidedly refusing to let himself smile, just in case this was some strange practical joke from the pirate. (It wouldn't surprise him, Hook, in his opinion, had descended into isolated madness in the last few months.)

"Your Highness, I present to you a magic bean, with which I will fetch your daughter back to her rightful home," He declared with a rather theatrical bow. David let a wide grin spread over his features.

"I knew I could count on you, pirate," he slapped Hook on the back, and clutched the bean as if it were his dying breath. "We'll plant this, and then in a few months, we'll have our girl back." Hook ignored the blatant implication of the final part of the King's statement, instead stopping in his tracks and eyeing David through his eyebrows.

"Excuse me _Your Highness_," he spat, glaring at David before stalking towards him. "These last few months may have dented my mental stability slightly. I could've sworn I just heard you say that we won't be retrieving Swan_ immediately_," David sighed.

"Hook, how exactly do you expect to fetch her, and bring her back with Henry, all with _one_ bean?" Hook growled, realising that David had never intended to set off on their journey instantly.

"Damnit," he said under his breath, and David patted Hook's shoulder in understanding.

"I know, but we'll give this bean to Anton, and in a few months, we'll have enough beans to come and go as we please. That way, if god forbid anything should happen which involves portal jumping again, we'll be prepared." Hook nodded slowly.

"I suppose it's the smartest way. It just means my pleasant mood of today has been doused in your disgustingly logical water. Remind me why I entertain your Royal Unattractiveness again?" David smiled.

"Because if you didn't, I would make your life a living hell. That wouldn't exactly help in your attempts of wooing my daughter, would it, pirate?" Hook frowned.

"Why _do you_ support my attempts in, as you so cheesily put it, _'wooing'_ your daughter? I thought your idealistic views on True Love and the like would put Baelfire more in your favour in regards to Swan's love life." David sighed heavily and shrugged. They wandered into the newly refurbished great hall of the palace.

"Neal may have her best interests at heart now, I know he cares. It's always been there. However, his moronic actions when it came to her destiny leave a lot to be desired. His choices weren't the best ones, and he left her hurt and broken, with walls even Snow and I haven't even fully passed yet. As much good is in his heart, and as much as he deserves a happy ending, I don't trust him to never hurt her again." David looked at Hook at this point, a serious expression on his face. "You, even with all your faults, even with the amount of redemption you need to earn with various others, even with your past and your bad choices... you would never hurt my daughter. I trust that. I may not trust you implicitly, but I trust you with her heart. That, pirate, is the biggest compliment I can give-" He gestured to where they had walked during their conversation, and Snow smiled kindly at them from her seat at the unnecessarily extravagant dining table. "-which is why you'll be joining us for dinner tonight. I thought maybe I could convince you to stop being so infuriating."

"It takes one to know one, Dave. But thank you. I can't believe I'm saying this, but yes. I'll join you."

* * *

_231 days._

"_Hook!_"

Groaning, Hook rolled over in his bed.

And promptly fell out of it.

In the last six and a half months his bed had grown more uncomfortable each night. His quarters needed cleaning, and his beard most definitely needed a trim. He picked himself up from the floor, and looked in the mirror while he listened to the stomping occurring above deck.

He had most certainly let himself go.

Damn Swan.

At one time, the uninvited guest above his quarters would have lasted no longer than twenty seconds before he impaled them with his hook, with a whispered _'it's rude to trespass'_ in their ear before they took their last breath.

Now though, he just rolled his eyes at the figure climbing down his ladder.

Yes, he'd absolutely gone soft.

Either that, or he just couldn't be bothered with anything but sleep and rum anymore.

"What the hell is all this about a secret magic bean patch?" Neal tapped his foot angrily, arms folded and eyes glaring daggers into the back of Hook's head.

"Pleasure to see you too, Bae." Neal scoffed.

"I've told you before, it's Neal. Answer my question." Hook sighed.

"I acquired a magic bean a few months ago. King Charmless thought it best we make use of such a rare artifact and procure a field of said beans. The normal-sized giant-dwarf is tending the fields, and in a few months we'll have a steady supply of portals. Was that clear enough for you, or would you like me to repeat that as if you're five years old?" Neal growled and Hook smirked slightly. "A magic bean is a very special thing that creates a big hole to take you to-" Neal slammed his hand on the shelf.

"Shut the hell up, Hook. Why on earth did no-one tell me about this?" Hook shrugged.

"Did it not occur to you that you won't be the one to fetch Swan and the boy?" Neal's gaze angered further.

"First of all, by '_the boy_' you mean my son. Second of all, I don't mind who brings them back. I just need them here. However, I would like to be kept in the loop. I also want to let you know that I'll be talking to David and Snow about being the one to bring them here. I may not mind who does it, but that doesn't mean I'll step back and let you do it," Hook smirked again.

"You're the only one out of all of us who she'll remember. Do you really think she'll trust you, considering her last memory of you is one of you abandoning her?" Neal sighed.

"You think she'll trust you, a stranger, more?" Hook was about to retaliate with a scathing insult, but the look on Neal's face made it obvious he was genuine in asking the question.

"I don't know, Bae. Neal. I just know that our best chance of getting them back isn't going to be you. I don't mean that to sound insulting. It's just the truth." Neal's shoulders sagged.

"I know. Just, keep me informed about it. I have a right to that, at least. I'll be telling David and Snow the same." Hook nodded.

"Fair enough."

"You need a shave."

"Delightful conversation as always. Don't let the boom hit you on the way out."

* * *

_280 days._

The beans still weren't ready.

To make matters worse, his mainsail had been ripped to shreds by flying monkeys.

_Flying monkeys._

He would laugh, at both the concept that flying monkeys were the cause of his current distress, and the fact that their newest foe was a screeching woman with green skin, were it not for the fact she was seriously threatening the safety of their treasured bean patch.

Although he had to admit, after seeing the lovely shade of grass green this woman had insisted on cursing herself with, the nickname he gave to Rumplestiltskin all those years ago had once again become appropriate. He chuckled to himself, before shaking his head.

_Focus._ _Priorities._

He was currently in the Charming castle, holed up in the east wing drawing room. (This place had multiple drawing rooms. Who needs multiple drawing rooms? Damn royalty. _Focus. Focus._)

One of the Wicked Witches many talents. The ability to make your mind wander. To distract you from the want to tear the horrible woman's head clean off. Although, he supposed that would be difficult. He could always make himself a guillotine attachment for his brace-

_Damnit! Focus._

He wasn't nearly the worst inflicted with distraction. He looked at Charming who was currently describing the tapestry on the wall in great detail, as if appraising it for auction. Then there was Grumpy, who was skipping around the room singing 'follow the Yellow brick road'. He had no idea where that song came from, but after thirty-six renditions of the damn song, he was ready to throttle the dwarf.

"Where is it? Where is it hidden?!" He heard the screech of frog-face from his position on the floor, noting the fact that the anger in the shrill voice had no effect on the person she was questioning, due to the fact he could hear Snow giggling hysterically.

Bloody witches.

He grabbed Charming by the collar and pulled him away from the tapestry, snapping him out of the trance for a moment.

"Dave pull it together. Snow is in there sniggering like a child at that witch. Do you think she'll last much longer if she doesn't disclose the whereabouts of the bean patch?" David sobered, and peeked around the corner to see the witch hovering over Snow.

"You have one more chance. Where is it?" David growled, throwing open the door and charging at the witch. Hook pulled a face.

"Oh, so we're just going head first into a fight then are we, Charmless? Thank you for the warning. Bloody idiot," He followed the King into the room, grabbing Snow's hand (a gesture at which she giggled manically) and pulled her out of the room into the corridor. Once out of close proximity to the witch, she too sobered.

"That bitch," She mumbled, and Hook chuckled at her instant mood change. There was another screech from the room, and Hook and Snow bolted back in to see Charming wearing a befuddled look on his face.

"She left," He looked out of the window, where they could see pea-head hanging onto the legs of her ridiculous airborne chimps. Hook sighed.

"Well, at least she's gone for now. Her screaming was giving me a migraine."

"She'll be back soon enough. Those beans better be almost done. You need to go soon, Hook. We can't do this without her." Charming sighed, putting an arm around his wife. Snow nodded.

"We need her, now more than ever. Her magic is the only thing strong enough to stop that woman. Even Regina can't stand up to her." Hook nodded slowly.

"I'll leave as soon as the giant gives me the go ahead. I've been ready to fetch her since the moment we came here." The King and Queen smiled at him.

"We'll get the beans and the potion Regina promised us, and you'll be on your way. Just be careful. If you thought she was distrustful before, you wait until you see her without the experiences Storybrooke gave her. When she first came to us, when she moved in with me, she wasn't open to anything. You need to be gentle with her." Snow cringed slightly at the opening she had given the Captain. "Don't you dare." Hook smirked.

"Wasn't going to say a word, Your Majesty." He raised an eyebrow as Grumpy appeared around the corner, taking a hold of Charming and Snow's hands, and jumping slightly on the spot.

"_Follow the Yellow brick road!_" Hook rolled his eyes. Witches were the bane of his existence.

Thirty-seven renditions of this song, and he'd had enough.

So he punched Grumpy in the face.


	4. Chapter Three

_I'd really love it if you guys would take a peek at my new Hook fanvid that I uploaded yesterday. It's my first vid in a while, so I'm a little rusty, but if you're a Hook fan (which reading this story, you must be) hopefully you'll enjoy it. There's also some CaptainSwan in there. It would be much appriciated you wonderful people!_

_[youtube] /watch?v=5qeXk5vpgNQ_

_As always, leave a review, it makes me happy. This chapter is dedicated to alexandrasarafolean and Delylah who reviewed. _

_This is short, but we needed some Swan time. We're back with Hook next chapter._

* * *

_Do not trust your memory; it is a net full of holes. The most beautiful prizes slip through it._ - Georges Duhamel

* * *

"Turn the music down a little will you? I can't hear myself think,"

"Why would you even need to hear yourself think?"

"Because I'm completely lost, and we'll never get to the real estate place if I'm lost."

"Why are we going to a real estate place in Boston if we're moving to New York?"

"Because - actually, that's a good point. I don't know, it seemed like a good idea. Come to think of it, do you even know how we got here? You can't even hear what I'm saying, kid. Turn the damn music down will you?"

Henry rolled his eyes and pushed the button on the dashboard, before turning to his mother.

"What did you say?" She smiled lightly at her son before sighing.

"I asked you if you know how we got here. We're driving through the middle of no-where, and I know that taking the grand idea of selling the apartment and uprooting before we even had anywhere to go seemed fun at the time, but I'm starting to think this whole temporarily homeless thing might be a dereliction of motherly duty," Henry laughed.

"It's fun. We both agreed to it. I've never been to New York. Hey, do you think we could ride the subway?"

"Absolutely. But forgive me if I find a roof for our heads first." They had been driving for hours, first in the direction of Boston, which made absolutely no sense, given their destination, and she thought that maybe she was going a little mad. She felt odd, as if driving away from Maine had been the wrong thing to do. Henry told her she was having a mid-life crisis.

"I am twenty-nine years old, less of the cheek. You're not allowed to start hurling insults at me until you're a teenager, and that's final."

* * *

"I'm going to punch her."

"No you're not."

"I am. I really, truly am. Who the hell does she think she is? Judging me when she knows nothing about us?" Henry sighed.

"Mom, she apologised. You know I don't care."

"That's completely not the point, Henry. I don't have any photos or mementos of you before you were Ten, and it pisses me off that I don't. It kills me that I don't have baby photos of you." Henry curled up on the sofa next to his mother, who was shovelling chocolate fudge ice-cream into her mouth at a rate that could only be described as revolting.

"First, put the spoon down. I would quite like some of that ice-cream and I won't get any if you inhale it all. Second, it's not your fault. That house fire we had destroyed everything, you know that. It's not like you just threw it all away. To be honest, the only thing that annoys me is the fact you've been taking hundreds of photos of me every day since, as if you're trying to make up for it. I haven't changed much since lunch, mom, enough with the photos. Third, do you realise how cool our apartment is? It's all bare and magazine-y, I love it. It makes me feel like I'm in a film. All my friends are jealous of the fact we have a place like this." Henry patted her on the shoulder and grabbed the spoon, eating what was left of the ice-cream.

"You know what, kid? You get more awesome every day. I've gotta' say, your mom did a great job raising you. You're smarter than I am."

"Don't talk about yourself in the third person. It's weird."

* * *

"Nice to meet you, I'm David, Aaron told me a lot about Henry and his Mom," She frowned.

_Why did the name David give me goosebumps? Henry keeps saying I'm going a bit mad. Maybe he's right._

"Come in, coffee?" He nodded slightly and Henry waved at him as he pulled Aaron out of the room.

"Don't come in to my room, Mom. Me and Aaron are going to wrap David's birthday present," She nodded and motioned to the sofas, handing David a cup of coffee, pulling her knees up and motioning to the room the boys had barricaded themselves into.

"Henry has been chattering about this all week. Couldn't wait for me to meet his new best friend, and now he's locked away in there. Kids," David laughed.

"Aaron wouldn't stop talking about 'the cool lady who makes weird hot chocolate'. Apparently you're quite the novelty." She laughed.

"Apparently. No idea where my hot chocolate quirk came from, but apparently I passed it onto my son so forcefully that he won't drink hot chocolate without it." David laughed.

"So where are you guys from?" She shrugged.

"Here and there. Before we came to New York we spent some time in Maine. Lived in a little town called-" She frowned again.

_I can't remember the name of the town I lived in for a year. We seriously need to stop moving._

"Well, we lived in Maine for a year, before that we were in Boston. We tend to jump around a lot. Normally the moving is because of the parents, but honestly it's more Henry. He can't sit still for too long. He keeps telling me about how he's determined to end up in a far off land one day. I'm a complete push over, so when Henry says 'let's move', I cave. We'll end up in Neverland at this rate," She paused and choked on her coffee.

_I hate déjà vu._

David smiled.

"Well, for what it's worth, I hope you'll stick around for a while. Aaron doesn't have many friends, and neither do I. It'll be nice to spend time with an adult for a change. Aaron is great, but adult conversations are hard to come by with an eleven year old." She nodded before smiling.

"Oh, we'll be here for a while. Henry loves it here. Wouldn't leave New York for the world, at least not right now."

* * *

"I hate you."

"No you don't. C'mon, kid. What's her name?"

"Her name is Miss Nobody."

"Don't be like that. I'm not making fun of you, I swear. What's her name? I bet she's pretty." Henry scrunched up his face and crossed his arms.

"You are and she's not. She's Miss Nobody. I don't have a girlfriend." She laughed.

"I never said you did. I said you clearly like her, otherwise you wouldn't be making her a birthday card. Hey, and I'm not making fun, I promise. I made a valentines card for a boy when I was younger than you. Please, tell me who she is," Henry rolled his eyes and huffed dramatically.

"Ruby. Her name is Ruby." She rubbed her arms as he said it.

_I keep getting that damn shiver. Did I turn the heating off again?_

"That's awesome. What's she like?" Henry gave an embarrassed little smile before shrugging.

"She's cool. She's in my class and she likes fairytales, like I do. I showed her my notebook."

Ah yes, the infamous notebook. Over the past year, Henry had taken to obsessively creating rewrites of classic fairytales. If she was honest, he was actually super talented, and she would sneak into his room when he was asleep to peek at his newest work. Snow White was a bandit, Red Riding Hood was the wolf, Rumplestiltskin fell in love with Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and Grumpy from the Seven Dwarves was originally called Dreamy.

His latest project was a rewrite of Peter Pan, and his version included an evil Peter, a human and slightly badass Tinkerbell, and an oddly heroic and intriguing Captain Hook.

"Did you show her the one where you wrote yourself being kidnapped by Peter Pan?" Henry grinned.

"Sure did. She loved it so much that she gave me her best pen and said 'here's a present for surviving Neverland'." She laughed.

"Kid, you keep writing like this, and you'll have all the girls chasing you. We should get you published, I love that notebook of yours."

* * *

She hated that damn notebook.

Since Henry had started writing those skewed fairytales, she had been having dreams. Vivid, dramatic, terrifyingly realistic dreams.

Most of which included Henry being in some kind of danger.

Most nights she woke up in a sweat, before skidding out into the hallway and wrenching open Henry's bedroom door to make sure he was still alive.

She was being ridiculous.

Last night's dream, the latest in a long line of 'Henry gets kidnapped by Peter Pan and the fairytale rag-tag rescue squad are on a mission to save him' dreams, the Evil Queen was arguing with Snow White, Snow White in turn was arguing with Prince Charming, and she was huddled in a corner making out with Captain Hook.

Maybe she needed some sort of therapy.

"You want eggs with your pancakes, kid?" Henry nodded, picking up his watering can and practically drowning the plants. "You might want to go easy on the water, those plants will need a ship if you're not careful,"

_That damn chill again. Someone needs to come and fix our heating. I've had that chill incessantly lately._

"Food's ready." Henry skipped over to the table, and she put the food in front of him before fetching their usual morning hot chocolate.

"Mom, you forgot something."

"Right. Cinnamon." She laughed slightly to herself.

"That's what I should get you for your birthday you maniac. Lifetime supply of cinnamon." Henry smiled.

"Don't complain, you're the one who got me into it. I should be mad at you for it. I can't have hot chocolate at school because they don't have cinnamon. It's a rough life you've given me, Mom." She rolled her eyes.

"Here you go," Traditional breakfast cheers with the hot chocolate, and then headache inducing knocking at the door.

"Someone coming over?"

"No?"

Sorry, make that _migraine_ inducing knocking. Didn't they know what time it was?

"Henry, wait here."


	5. Chapter Four

_I am so sorry about the wait, you guys. I've had a lot of things to do, but now I have around 10,000 more words of this written after this chapter, so I can guarantee regular updates from now on. Thankyou so much for your support, I'm overwhelmed with the faves and follows this story has so far. You're all wonderful._

_This chapter is dedicated to alexandrasarafolean, delylah/halyled, fanficlover818, and alisonstewart who reviewed. delyah, all will be explained about Henry's book, I promise :) much love to you all!_

* * *

_302 days._

Hook had forgotten how much he _hated_ this godforsaken land.

Everything here was a little _too_ shiny. Hook liked shiny objects, sure, but the shiny things here weren't jewels or gold, they were massive moving machines that bloody hurt when they hit you.

Hook hated this land.

_Remember what Bae said. First thing to do, find out which country you landed in, and pray you're in 'America'._

Well, whichever land he had fallen into, the people certainly weren't accommodating to someone who was completely lost. The stares and grunts he received when asking 'Which country am I in?' were nothing short of incredulous.

Finally, when charming an answer from a particularly attractive passing woman, he breathed a sigh of relief when she answered with America. Somewhere called Vermont to be more specific, and Hook was even more thankful to whichever God was helping him through this journey when the vial of Charming's blood poured onto the globe revealed that Swan was in Manhattan, New York, not far from his current position.

Today was his lucky day.

That was, until the moment he dropped the globe and ruined his chance of narrowing his scope to a particular building.

_Bloody idiot._

Full scale search of Manhattan it is, then.

* * *

_309 days._

"Bro, are you lost?" Hook raised an eyebrow at the bartender who was grinning at him from the opposite side of the bar.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just, you look like you've just come from Broadway. Did you just come from Broadway?" Hook squinted his eyes at the bartender and tried to recall Bae saying anything about a place called Broadway. He couldn't remember such a conversation and simply decided to take the easy route and agree.

"Yes. Absolutely I came from Broadway. I live there." Hook seemed rather pleased with his cover story until he looked at the bartender who was frowning at him.

"What are you on about dude?" Hook narrowed his eyes again.

"I'm from Broadway. You said I looked as if I originated from Broadway. I said yes." The bartender sniggered and pointed at Hook.

"Sure thing bro. I'm cutting you off. That's your last rum." Hook grunted.

"That's the third time this week. I miss the old taverns in which drinking was encouraged rather than monitored." The bartender rolled his eyes.

"Sure thing. Want me to call you a cab?"

"No thank you." Hook pulled himself from the stool and stepped onto the street, not wanting to stay in the presence of that barkeep another minute more anyway.

He had been seconds from pulling his hook from his pocket and driving it through the blundering idiots neck.

As he wandered the streets, he admired the one thing about this city that he could. His ability to walk around at any time, and still be in a crowd. It seemed that no-one slept here.

His hike from Vermont to New York had been interesting to say the least, and after spending almost a day avoiding any form of interaction with members of this land, he had taken Bae's advice and taken a 'bus' to Manhattan. He had then felt a surge of appreciation for Bae, who had given Hook enough money to last a fair while in this world. Hook also took it upon himself to break into Bae's old apartment and use it as his base while searching for Swan.

He was already beginning to tire of the bright lights of the town, and the fact he could never see the stars from this place.

He hoped he would find her soon.

* * *

_348 days._

Almost two months, and nothing. He had tried knocking on doors, he had tried asking strangers in the streets if they knew someone with her name, and he had tried sitting on benches in parks on the off chance she or Henry would walk by.

Nothing.

He sighed, looking up into beams on the ceiling of the quiet pub he was currently in. The plus side of being in New York for an extended period of time was finding a tavern he enjoyed. The owner knew him now, and it had become the only place in the never ending city that he could go without receiving stares and whispers about his attire.

None of that phased him. What he did care about, was knowing that Swan was so close, yet still further from him than she had ever been.

It made him think about those people he left in the Enchanted Forest. People he left to fight a war that was waging at the most inopportune moment in time. Regina was trying her best, and Baelfire was even trying to find a way to bring back the Crocodile to help fight the war. The fairies were pooling their magic, and even Tinkerbell was wearing herself thin trying to use her magic to their advantage. Their efforts, however, were failing.

Charming had led an attack on the ground, accompanied by Robin and helped by Three other kingdoms, and yet the Wicked Witch was still pushing back their defences and forcing Snow underground.

She was, after all, with child.

Hook sighed as he remembered the King and Queen's faces when they had announced the news of their second child.

Their faces radiated happiness and joy, a plea for their people to celebrate the unborn heir.

As soon as their backs turned to the crowds, he saw Snow's face dissolve into anguish. Pain, wrapped in guilt.

He tried to leave them to their moment, but couldn't help but overhear Snow's cracked voice.

"I remember when we did this the first time," she hiccupped and Charming wrapped his arms around his wife, tears in his eyes. "I don't want to replace her. I need her,"

"Nothing is going to replace her. Soon, she'll be home, and we'll celebrate her return, have another baby, and we'll be able to watch her be a big sister. We will have our family." Snow nodded.

Hook now felt more reason to fetch her.

Now, sitting in this tavern, he counted.

He counted the reasons to retrieve his Swan.

_For her people. To save them. She is, after all, the Saviour._

_For her parents. To protect her family, one she found after years of having no such thing._

_For Regina. To bring her son back to her, allow her that last piece of the puzzle she misses in her life._

_For Neal. To heal the pain of the loss of his father by bringing his son back to him._

_For this unborn sibling. To give this child a sister who would protect it with her life._

_For Henry. To give him his family, and to give him the adventure he craved for years._

_For her. To give her the truth. To give her real love, real hope._

He paused on the final reason, and decided to indulge himself with his own hope, just this once.

_For myself, because I need her._

* * *

_351 days._

"You've been here almost four hours. Something wrong?" The owner of the tavern, who was a kindly old man who seemed to Hook to be the only soul in the city with some form of kindness, was staring down at him, his eyes holding worry, and his hands holding the bottle of rum, ready to give Hook his refill.

"Fine, thanks mate. I just haven't found her yet." The old man furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly.

"Found who?" Hook frowned.

"Ah, I suppose I didn't tell you. Surprising, I tell most people I meet in this place." Hook sighed. "I'm looking for someone, and have been searching for her for fifty or so days. I'm sinking, and she's the only one who could ever throw me a line. Yet I can't find her." The old man turned away, and Hook supposed his story must have bored the man. It seemed to bore most everyone else. A few minutes later however, the man returned from behind the bar, bringing a large book with him.

"If you're looking for someone in New York, you'll need this," He presented the book to Hook, and smiled. "Phone book for downtown. If she lives here, she's likely to be listed. You can use my phone, if you like." Hook shook his head.

"Can't stand those infernal devices. Much prefer to be looking someone in the eye when conversing with them. I don't suppose you have one of these directories for addresses?" The old man shrugged.

"No, but my grandson is a computer wiz, he should be able to look up addresses if you find their number." Hook widened his eyes and immediately began to look through the names.

_Swain... Swallow... Swan._

He found four people in the area with her name.

He immediately found hope he thought had evaporated weeks ago.

"Could you possibly ask your grandson to find these four addresses for me? Let him know I'll pay him, and you, for your troubles, and I would like to buy you a drink, sir. You have no idea what you have done for me."

* * *

_352 days._

This was the third building he had visited with someone with her name inside.

The first two held no value, and he was kicking himself for building hope in his chest each time he approached a building with 'Swan' as one of the listed numbers.

Each time he did as Bae had told him to do, and pressed every button on the button box, and heard the buzzing noise indicating the door had opened.

As he had done the first two times, he took the stairs two at a time.

_You're a bloody idiot. Hope might be the most annoying feeling on earth. Damn Swan and her royal parents._

As he approached 311, he took a breath and rapped on the door. The music he heard from inside the apartment still played, and his impatience took a hold, making him bang the door again with such ferocity, he was almost certain that was it _his_ Swan behind door number three, she would probably punch him simply for being too damn loud.

The music inside the apartment turned off, and he held his breath, waiting for the disappointment to crush him, as it had done the previous two times.

The door opened, and he grinned, and despite his legs wanting him to envelope her in a hug and never let go, he simply looked into eyes he had only dreamed of for the last year.

"Swan,"

He knew she didn't remember. He knew that, and he also knew of the tale of Charming's kiss not working to restore Snow under her spell. He tried anyway, because he was foolish.

Now he also knew that Swan had a rather aggressive and painful kick.

The door slammed in his face, and he sighed.

It may not be_ his_ Swan, not yet at least, her memories altered and her mannerisms changed from ten years of implanted lies, but he was most definitely in the right place, and on the right path.

And all hell be damned, it would be his last breath before he walked away from her now.


End file.
